Big ratings gains for PBS hits 'Downton Abbey' and 'Sherlock'

PBS has become a Sunday night ratings force with "Downton Abbey" and "Sherlock."

The most recent seasons of the British dramas were their highest-rated yet, according to final numbers released Wednesday by PBS outlet WGBH-TV.

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Season 4 of "Downton" -- detailing the life of a fictional aristocratic family and its servants a century ago -- averaged 13.2 million total viewers, according to Nielsen -- up 15% compared with the previous season.

Meanwhile, the third season of "Sherlock" -- a modern retelling of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle -- averaged 6.6 million, for a whopping 50% gain compared with Season 2.

"Downton" has been renewed for Season 5 via its U.K. maker, ITV, and will presumably re-appear in the U.S. early in 2015. As for "Sherlock," the creators have promised more episodes, although the details haven't been officially announced yet.